[Reader-list] Amann was ragged to death by drunk seniors

[Aditya Raj Kaul]

Amann was ragged to death by drunk seniors
*Bhadra Sinha<http://www.hindustantimes.com/Search/Search.aspx?q=Bhadra%20Sinha&nodate=1>,
Hindustan Times

Link -
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=HomePage&id=46257a57-5fef-4c2c-a998-0dd228242f14&Headline=Amann+was+ragged+to+death+by+drunk+seniors
*

A Supreme Court panel, constituted to probe into the ragging and subsequent
death of medical student, Amann Kachroo, has blamed rampant use of alcohol
in institutions for a spurt in ragging incidents.

The panel comprising Dr. A K Agarwal, Dean, Maulana Azad Medical College,
and Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Principal, Ramjas College has also indicted the
administrative staff of Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College (RPGMC)
for Kachroo’s death. The first year student succumbed to injuries inflicted
on him by his seniors during a ragging session in the hostel on March 8.

The panel has further sought immediate inquiry against suspended college
principal Dr Suresh Sankhyan for failing to implement Supreme Court
directions against ragging. Keeping the “seemingly violent history” of RPGMC
in mind, it has urged the court to post police on the campus until the
college administration manages to enforce discipline.

According to the panel the college’s anti-ragging committee never met and
its staff were not even sensitised to the menace of ragging. “The college
administration could not properly bring about a stable and disciplined
atmosphere in the college,” the report stated.

While reading out contents of the “shocking report” before a special bench
headed by Justice Arijit Pasayat, additional solicitor general (ASG) Gopal
Subramanium said there was an immediate need to introduce de-addiction
measures at educational institutions.

Subramanium, who is assisting the court in the matter, suggested
constitution of a special committee having eminent psychiatrists or
psychologists, a documentary-maker and an educationalist, to recommend
urgent and mandatory mental health measures to be implemented at all the
education institutions including schools.

The ASG said the committee should also immediately examine the problem of
alcoholism on RPGMC campus and suggest immediate de-addiction measures. The
court was also informed about the panel’s finding against the role of
Medical Council of India (MCI). The panel has raised doubts over MCI’s
sincerity in curbing ragging in medical colleges and sought a probe into it.